Page 78

“Phone,” I grunt, done with today.

Carter searches for the phone, pressing it into my hand. Cassidy is blowing my phone up, trying to figure out how to speak to me without getting in trouble.

Me:

I’m fine. Kind of.

I wait until she sees it before I erase it, my hand dropping to my side as my eyelids threaten to droop.

“Woah, don’t pass out yet,” he begs. “Did you hit your head at all?”

“I don’t think so,” I mumble. “Not your fault, and not the worst thing that’s happened to me.”

My filter is shattered, and I don’t care. Unconsciousness feels a lot better than being awake. Maybe I can forget about this fucked up day for awhile. Without curtains, the sun is going to shine right into my bedroom.

“I will never forget that you said that,” he hisses at me. “We’re going to get you out of this hell hole, I promise. Even if we have to claim you ourselves.”

“Do you not want me?” I whimper, feeling really shitty and sorry for myself. “It’s the hair, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not that,” he says, almost growling. “It’s complicated, Nina. I don’t think you’re even going to remember this, but please trust me. We’ll get you out of this house.”

“Maybe,” I whisper, my eyes closing.

I don’t know if I can trust anyone again. There is this hole in my chest, and I don’t know why. It’s how I always feel. As if I’m missing something.

“Sleep,” Carter says. “I’m going to spend the night on the balcony.”

“But there’s no curtains,” I mumble, or at least I think I do.

I swear I hear him chuckle as I tumble into the abyss where nothing hurts, and there are no dreams.

Vivian

I can’t rouse that lazy girl for anything. I tried everything except throwing water over her head, and even then I didn’t because Isaw the bruises from the belt when the comforter fell down to expose her arm.

It’s an ugly brown, the color of old blood. When I pulled down the comforter more, I found she was covered with them. I can see her phone is lost in all of the blankets, and pick it up. If my plan is going to work, then she doesn’t need it. Deciding that she was better off sleeping off her little tantrum, I stalked off.

I checked her past messages, and found nothing of interest. Her last text was something innocuous and sweet with Cassidy. However, the alpha has been texting her asking if she needs them. No, she absolutely doesn’t.

Now, I’m glaring out at the beautiful day outside, trying to decide if I want to have lunch with my friends and bitch about Nina or stew in my anger.

My nose wrinkles in annoyance when the doorbell rings. The phone beside me has been blowing up with texts and calls about my daughter’s welfare. The packs want to know why they weren’t told about her heat so they could help her through it.

Yes, please tell me you want to fuck my daughter. That’s lovely.

I finally texted Silas back and told him that if he wanted to help my daughter through a heat, then that was a pack privilege, and she isn’t theirs yet. I’m about to turn off the fucking phone and be done with it.

I know I told my daughter to spread her legs if it would help get her packed up sooner, but I will cover up our family secrets any way I can.

She brought this on herself, after all.

The housekeeper pokes her head into the living room, biting her lip because she was expressly told not to answer the door today. Whoever is out there is really leaning on that damn doorbell today.

“For God sakes,” I huff out, standing. “Let the poor girl rest.”

I’m just going to tell them that she’s been put under amedically induced sedation for the duration of her heat and be done with it. If she was truly in heat, that’s what I would do.

Thankfully, her little pills do wonders. They’re expensive, top of the line, and guaranteed by a scientist friend of Martin’s. They better fucking work.